A man indicted for participating in three similar but separate mortgage-fraud schemes has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

Roger K. Howard, 50, of Englewood will be sentenced Aug. 26, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver.

Howard’s co-defendant, Oai Quang Luong, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud earlier and will be sentenced Aug. 15.

The first and largest of the schemes involved the sale of 26 town-homes in a development known as Oliveglen Villas in Aurora.

The second involved the sale of a residence in Castle Rock, and the third was a house in Denver.

Howard did business as Spring Creek Mortgage Real Estate Services and Open Range Development LLC.

Oai Luong worked for a company that processed mortgage-loan applications on behalf of potential buyers. Both co-defendants had offices in the same Centennial office building.

In the Oliveglen Villas case, Howard persuaded 17 people, whom he described as investors, to purchase townhomes in Oliveglen Villas.

Howard arranged for the individuals to obtain mortgage loans and caused the applications for those mortgages to include false and misleading information. Many of the applications overstated the borrowers’ monthly incomes, often claiming incomes were more than double the actual amounts.

Eventually, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, all the mortgages went into default and the lenders foreclosed.

At that point, there were about 12 lenders holding the mortgages on the townhomes, and they lost about $7.6 million.

Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count. Money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count.